Interview with Texas Senate candidate Ted Cruz

posted at 9:20 am on May 18, 2012 by Dustin Siggins

Last evening conservative favorite Ted Cruz, the insurgent candidate in the Republican Texas Senate Primary who is closing the gap as we hit less than two weeks from primary voting day, gave me 15 minutes of his time for a few questions about taxes, term limits, immigration and Sarah Palin’s endorsement. Below is our conversation.

Dustin Siggins (DS): 12 days out, you’re closing in the polls, Sarah Palin endorsed you…what are your thoughts on how things are going?

Ted Cruz (TC): The campaign is going extraordinarily well. The momentum is off the charts. Sarah Palin endorsed us last week and we had a thousand contributions come in within 48 hours. We have conservatives of all stripes backing us: grassroots leaders, Republican women – everyone is coalescing behind our campaign.

DS: In a recent interview with Kathleen McKinley at Smart Girl Nation (transcript posted at RightWingNews.com), you said you opposed Democratic amnesty proposals as well as “Democrat-lite” proposals from Republicans. Can you elaborate upon this a bit?

TC: We have a crisis on illegal immigration. Neither party is serious about stopping it. I strongly oppose illegal immigration. I categorically oppose amnesty. I support legal immigrants who come here supporting the American Dream.

I come from the perspective of someone who spent much of my adult life in law enforcement. In a post-9/11 world, it is absolutely unacceptable that we don’t know who comes over our borders. We need to do everything humanly possible to secure the borders. Electronic surveillance, a wall, helicopters and, most importantly, boots on the ground. If elected, the first thing I will do is triple the U.S. Border Patrol.

We should celebrate legal immigrants. No matter the party or the politician, I oppose amnesty. Amnesty is contrary to the rule of law and is unfair to legal immigrants who wait years or decades to come here legally.

When it comes to illegal immigration, conservatives often feel like Charlie Brown and Lucy with the football. The 1986 amnesty was allegedly to secure borders in exchange for amnesty, but the borders were never secured. We should not fall for that again.

A better immigration system is both possible and simple. First, we enforce the law – securing the borders will stop the inflow. Second, put in place a strong E-Verify program. The lack of jobs will dry up the magnet for being here and illegal immigrants will leave. America MUST remain a nation of the rule of law, and non-enforcement of illegal immigration undermines that.

DS: What is your reaction to the Senate budget battles this week, especially with four GOP budgets being voted against by four GOP Senators, one of whom was Dean Heller (R-NV)?

Last year, this nation hit two major marks: first, our credit rating was downgraded. Second, our national debt exceeded GDP. We are on the path to Greece, and the Senate and President Obama aren’t doing anything about it. The fact is that the Obama budget got zero votes in the Senate, there is no Senate Democratic budget…and Democrats don’t want to focus on the problem that is our national debt.

We have politicians in both parties who won’t stand up and get serious about cutting spending. What is critical in 2012 is electing strong, free market, constitutional conservatives. This is absolutely important. Right now we have six or seven strong conservatives in the Senate. If we can double that to a dozen or more, that would be a strong step towards balancing the budget.

There are only five truly strong fiscal conservatives in the Senate. They are Jim DeMint, Rand Paul, Pat Toomey, Tom Coburn and Mike Lee. Not coincidentally, all five back me. All five have also said they are outnumbered by Democrats and Republicans in the Senate. If we can get that number of strong fiscal conservatives up to 12 or 15, especially in leadership, I know the rest of the Republican Senators will follow them in the right direction.

DS: Your website says you support a flat income tax. Are there any credits or loopholes that should be kept in the code? Charitable donations and the mortgage interest deduction, for example?

TC: Those two should stay. They are necessary in order to get a flat tax enacted.

The current IRS code needs to be entirely revamped. It’s designed to keep politicians in power. Lobbyists go to career politicians to manipulate the tax code for special exemptions, and then career politicians say “Of course I’ll help you out. When I am finished doing that, can you please come to my fundraiser?” This breeds enormous power for elected officials and for lobbyists. I want politicians who say “No, build a better mousetrap and succeed in the marketplace instead of manipulating the tax code.”

DS: You’ve come out in support of term limits, specifically no more than three terms in the House and two terms in the Senate – the same term limits Senator Coburn has self-imposed. Will you impose these limits upon yourself?

TC: I have pledged to help lead the fight to get that constitutional amendment passed – no more than three terms in the House and two terms in the Senate. This should be applied equally across the board. Unfortunately, the Senate shot down term limits with Republican support, much as it shot down an earmark ban with Republican support. Term limits are critical to getting career politicians out of D.C.

DS: To clarify, would you hold yourself to the aforementioned term limits if the Senate does not pass such a law?

TC: I have not pledged to unilaterally disarm. If all conservatives hold to term limits, and liberals don’t, we have a disadvantage. I will fight to make term limits apply equally across the board.

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Ted Cruz is magnificent. I had the pleasure of working with him on a legal matter a couple of years ago. He is brilliant, articulate, and dedicated. Moreover, he is a good and pleasant person, which cannot be said about the majority of attorneys. He would be super in the senate.
I have sent him some California dollars a couple of times and will do so again.

I have heard Ted Cruz several times on Levin’s show and he sounds magnificent. If conservatism is truly on the ascendancy, then he is at the top of that wave. We really need him and many more like him.

There are only five truly strong fiscal conservatives in the Senate. They are Jim DeMint, Rand Paul, Pat Toomey, Tom Coburn and Mike Lee. Not coincidentally, all five back me. All five have also said they are outnumbered by Democrats and Republicans in the Senate. If we can get that number of strong fiscal conservatives up to 12 or 15, especially in leadership, I know the rest of the Republican Senators will follow them in the right direction.

From your lips to God’s ear. But I am not sold on Coburn, he makes it a point to give his democrat counter parts political cover. They deserve NONE.

Unfortunately, I don’t have a video camera or other resources to record interviews on camera, and I don’t have the time to put up a recording, since transcribing the interview would have required a significant commitment.

We are very fortunate to have a great stable of candidates vying to replace KBH. Ted Cruz is one of the good guys. Tom Leppert (former excellent mayor of Dallas) may be the best of the bunch, but probably can’t win. Dewhurst is a career politician, but would also be far better than KBH. We will do well with any of them. At this point in time, I believe Cruz has my vote.

If your ISP is in Texas and you’re on Hot Air or several other conservative websites, you can see the tons of web ad money David Dewhurst has been throwing against Cruz with those “The Real Ted Cruz” ads.

Odds are Dewhurst is still going to win on May 29, but the goal for Cruz isn’t as much winning on the 29th as it is placing second and holding Dewhurst to under 50 percent of the vote in the multi-candidate Senate race. If he does those two things, he forces a runoff, which won’t be until July 31, where in a two-person race in the middle of summer, the passion and ability to turnout voters at a time of the year where they’re likely focused on other things will be key.

FYI. I’ve read that Cruz is an exceptional writer and an exceptional speaker, skills that he’s honed as an appellate advocate. I think I read that he’s argued ably several times before SCOTUS while serving TX’s solicitor general.

Don’t sell those skills short. You start getting guys like him in front of a camera rather than clowns like Chuck Grassley, and then Americans begin to realize that conservatives are serious about governing.

Amazing!!!!! Ted Cruz acknowledge that Sarah endorsement cause a flurry of donations and activity within 48 hours and the RomneyBots dismiss him for saying that! Talk about catty and jealousy run amok LOL!

Can someone tell me what is up with the Chinese law suit? I was leaning Cruz, until that came up.

Here is the story: A Chinese company stole a patented design (mining equipment or something) and started reproducing it. They can do that in China, but I guess they started bringing it to the US and Ted Cruz defended them as a trial attorney and lost, then used a legal trick to prevent the case completing preventing the sale of equipment in the US.

This is my understanding of what is alleged. I may have some details wrong. I have not seen ted Cruz set the record straight only say that Dewhurst is trying to deflect. I just want to know how much of this is true and false.

I plan on voting this weekend.

I must say that I am happy with our candidates. Looking at the 4 people and the worst is far better than the typical in DC. And they are all better than Hutchinson who left the Senate.

David Dewhurst Been around forever and pretty cnservative

Ted Cruz Trial Lawyer that got into politics a few years back.

Craig James(ex-football player and sports commentator)Not sure if he is a true con or jsut becoming one for the election.

Tom Leppert(ex-mayor of Dallas) Not sure how conservative he is. Dallas is pretty liberal in their voting and I know he helped move Dallas to the right, but it is kinda like Scott Brown, he is conservative compared to wacko libs or a true conservative.

If elected, the first thing I will do is triple the U.S. Border Patrol.

I do wish him luck, and the more conservatives in Congress, the better, but having the leadership that we have from both parties in the House and the Senate, leaves conservatives powerless. However, we have to start somewhere and by consistently winning over the Establishment RINOS definitely sends the right message.
Republicans need to keep these TEA Party conservatives that are elected in Congress to do the job they were elected to do and stop considering them for jobs within a Republican administration. That’s what Govenors are for.

Tom Leppert (former excellent mayor of Dallas) may be the best of the bunch, but probably can’t win.
stvnscott on May 18, 2012 at 9:49 AM

tom leppert is terrible!! he is the reason i moved out of dallas to flower mound. the guy pushed thru a hotel in downtown built w/ taxpayer money. the govt at no level has any business competing w/ the private sector. if there was a need for a new hotel in dallas someone wouldve built it. no, lepper was not an excellent mayor. he barely edges out laura miller who kept the cowboys from coming back.

Can someone tell me what is up with the Chinese law suit? I was leaning Cruz, until that came up.

Here is the story: A Chinese company stole a patented design (mining equipment or something) and started reproducing it. They can do that in China, but I guess they started bringing it to the US and Ted Cruz defended them as a trial attorney and lost, then used a legal trick to prevent the case completing preventing the sale of equipment in the US.

jeffn21 on May 18, 2012 at 10:21 AM

Apparently the Chinese tire maker stole a design from an American company, and started making tires based on that design. Cruz is one of the attorneys handling their appeal (the Chinese company lost at trial). He wasn’t one of the attorneys in the original trial.

My house voted for Ted in early voting! I met him after a debate and discussed his desire for repealing the 17th amendment. I found him to be engaging (even when one of his staffers tried to pull him away) and confident in his stance on issues (you don’t argue before the SCOTUS without some confidence in your position!)

Don’t fall for the Dewhurst China smear, read Ted’s response to it at the link below.

I made up my mind to vote for Cruz a while ago, but watching the debates/forums completely convinced me. I don’t know if it is senility or what, but Dewhurst can’t articulate his positions clearly. We need clear, conservative voices to make the arguments to the people to be able to effect the changes required to save the country.

tom leppert is terrible!! he is the reason i moved out of dallas to flower mound. the guy pushed thru a hotel in downtown built w/ taxpayer money. the govt at no level has any business competing w/ the private sector. if there was a need for a new hotel in dallas someone wouldve built it. no, lepper was not an excellent mayor. he barely edges out laura miller who kept the cowboys from coming back.

chasdal on May 18, 2012 at 10:37 AM

You mean the one that Miller backed because she refused to let the private sector build one? The die was cast on that hotel before Leppert took office.

The hotel that will keep Dallas from falling farther behind in convention business?

The hotel that is already paying back the taxpayers well in excess of projections, even in a bad economy?

I was against a taxpayer funded hotel as well. but the city government under Miller saw to it that NO private enterprise would build that hotel.

Ted Cruz Trial Lawyer thatappellate-advocacy lawyer who got into politics a few years back.

***

jeffn21 on May 18, 2012 at 10:21 AM

Sorry, but that’s an incorrect characterization of Cruz. To cast him in the same light as John Edwards and other ambulance-chasing plaintiffs’ lawyers is unfair. The guy has argued before SCOTUS nine times. Trial advocacy and appellate advocacy are two quite different areas of law practice.

Another politician who is in favor of the IRS instead of abolishing it, and who is in favor of an income tax instead of abolishing it, and who favors using an income tax to pick winners and losers and to steer behavior.

Sorry, but that’s an incorrect characterization of Cruz. To cast him in the same light as John Edwards and other ambulance-chasing plaintiffs’ lawyers is unfair. The guy has argued before SCOTUS nine times. Trial advocacy and appellate advocacy are two quite different areas of law practice.

BuckeyeSam on May 18, 2012 at 11:06 AM

Exactly correct. The worst legal crap occurs at the trial court level, at the urging of trial lawyers like John Edwards, who frequently get juries to do crazy things. Those excesses are sometimes corrected on appeal through good legal analysis by attorneys like Ted Cruz.

One more thing, I ain’t a fan of Leppert and I voted for Cruz, but your take on Leppert is flat out wrong. And that is giving you the benefit of the doubt.

Of the 13 mayors of dallas I have watched govern, Leppert is in the top four. And he managed that with the mayor (through a change in how the council is formed) having less power than the mayors in the two top spots.

miller blocking private enterprise is no reason for the city to jump in. she was gone, leppert and the council tried to get a hotel built but the private sector said the demand wasnt there, in fact the city made things worse w/a smoking ban. so now there is a new hotel that is booked solid, but at the expense of the adolphus, reunion hilton, the anatole, the w, etc. those hotels have lost business cause of course everyone wants to stay at the new shiny hotel. it was an unnecessary intrusion into the private sector.

I take it you weren’t paying attention when Dallas went from the #2 convention destination to out of the the top 20 because of Miller. A hotel that catered to conventions was one of the main reasons.

The conclusion that the demand wasn’t there was, and still is, a joke. The only hotel that is in competition with the new hotel is the Hilton. If Miller hadn’t nixed the plan to incorporate reunion arena into the convention center, there would have been a hotel to anchor each end of the convention center.

The justification for the hotel was there before taxpayers had to fund it, and the demand remains. The city government, under Miller, removed the ability for the private sector to do it.

Look no farther than the AA center in Dallas. Reunion arena was torn down before it’s time. Even though it is close enough to connect to the Dallas convention center and there was an attempt to convert it into a casino. The Mavericks and the Stars wanted a new arena and wanted any competition gone.

Last evening, I heard my first Mark Levin radio commercial endorsing Cruz. It ended with, “Join me and Sarah Palin in supporting Ted Cruz…” I can see why Cruz is closing the gap, because in a crowded field, while he’s way ahead of all but Dewhurst, Dewhurst has the name recognition as well as the GOP power establishment behind him. When big-name conservatives endorse him, people take notice. Cruz can’t win this primary outright, but he’s easily going to force a runoff with Dewhurst at this point, and his momentum will continue into the general. He’s been a great Solicitor General for Texas, arguing 9 cases before the SCOTUS. He defended the 2nd Amendment, state sovereignty against the “International Court of Justice” and others. We NEED Ted Cruz!

TX 19? I’m sticking with Neugebauer. Winn is… well, look at the local Republican Party. I don’t know what it was like before he led it, but it’s pretty weird now. Neugebauer has made mistakes (as everyone has) but I agree with better than 90% of his votes, and where I came from, that’s a phenomenal record.

The liberal Houston Chronicle endorsed David Dewhurst that should tell you everything you need to know.

From the Chronicle: “Given a magic wand, we’d order up a replacement who would blend the skills of Hutchinson with those of Lloyd Bentsen- with just a pinch of calculated orneriness of Lyndon Johnson.”Vote Ted Cruz!